At Barcelona he has suffered at times from the Catalans’ possession-based game. One-touch football is not always Sanchez’s greatest strength, which is why he has regularly been overlooked for the likes of Pedro, Andres Iniesta and Cesc Fabregas.

David Moyes needs a player of Sanchez’s calibre to spark a United attack that currently offers limited threat down the flanks, with Nani, Antonio Valencia and Shinji Kagawa all failing to impress this campaign.

Youngster Adnan Januzaj has been United’s star performer in the wide areas, but Moyes will be all too aware he cannot pin an entire season on the teenager’s prodigious talent.